Noted artist and illustrator James Montgomery Flagg was born on June 18, 1877, in Pelham Manor, New York. He painted dozens of memorable posters, book covers, magazine covers, and more, with the most notable being his interpretation of Uncle Sam.
On April 4, 1818, President James Monroe signed a flag act that changed the way the US flag was updated when new states joined the Union. This act has affected every US flag issued since…
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry addressed the Second Virginia Convention to convince them to raise a militia. During his rousing speech, he delivered one of his most famous statements…
On September 29, 1841, New York held the first state fair in the US. Today it’s the oldest and one of the most highly attended of all US state fairs.
On September 7, 1813, a newspaper referred to the United States as “Uncle Sam.” The name reportedly came from Troy, New York’s Uncle Sam Wilson, and has since become one of America’s most enduring national symbols.
On August 21, 1856, Connecticut’s famed Charter Oak Tree was struck down in a thunderstorm. The tree had become a legend in the state’s history, reportedly hiding the colonial charter two centuries earlier.
David “Davy” Crockett was born on August 17, 1786 in Greene County, North Carolina (though it is now part of Tennessee). Dubbed the King of the Wild Frontier, Crockett was a folk hero, politician, frontiersman and soldier.
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence. One of America’s founding documents, it explained why the 13 colonies were at war with Great Britain and that they declared themselves to be independent sovereign states no longer under British rule.
On June 22, 1942, Congress formally adopted the Pledge of Allegiance. Originally written by Francis Bellamy in 1884, the pledge been altered some over the years, but has remained unchanged since 1954.